Files Show Waldheim Knew Of Reprisal Killings In Balkans

VIENNA, AUSTRIA — The president of Austria said Tuesday night that documents about Kurt Waldheim's wartime activities showed he must have known of German retaliation against partisans in the Balkans.

But the president, Rudolf Kirchschlaeger, said the documents did not substantiate other charges, such as that Waldheim took part in war crimes or knew about the deportation of Greek Jews to Nazi death camps. The documents were made available by the United Nations and the World Jewish Congress.

The president's report was delivered in a broadcast address less than two weeks before a presidential election in which Waldheim, the former United Nations secretary general, is favored to succeed Kirchschlaeger.

While campaigning in Salzburg, Waldheim said that with the president's statement, ''all accusations against me have collapsed, and I hope that now, in the last phase of the election campaign, we can concentrate constructively on the real problems.''

Waldheim, the candidate of the conservative People's Party, is opposed in the May 4 election by Kurt Steyrer of the Socialist Party. Steyrer is a former health minister. Kirchschlaeger, a former judge, was foreign minister in a Socialist government from 1970 to 1974 but is supported by both major parties as president.

Based on the documents from the archives of the U.N. War Crimes Commission, Kirchschlaeger said, ''I would not dare to file an indictment in a regular court'' against Waldheim.

The president said the documents assembled by the World Jewish Congress showed that as of Dec. 1, 1943, Waldheim was a first lieutenant in charge of preparing reports for a German army group command based in Salonika, Greece.

''He must, therefore, because of his duty, have been well-informed about the whole situation in his jurisdiction, including the overall conduct of war in the Balkans,'' Kirchschlaeger said. ''Knowledge of reprisal measures in warfare against the partisans has to be taken for granted.''

It was the only passage of the speech that appeared to implicate Waldheim at least in knowledge of war crimes.

But the president's description of the documents was more indication that, until recently, Waldheim was not forthright in describing his wartime activities.

Until last month, Waldheim said he had been released from military service in 1941. He has since acknowledged that he served with the German army in the Balkans, but he denied involvement in atrocities against Yugoslav partisans and said he had been unaware of mass deportations of Greek Jews. He said fellow veterans had records showing he was in Albania while the Salonika Jews were being sent to their deaths.

Kirchschlaeger said two references to the fate of the Greek Jews appeared in the documents made available by the World Jewish Congress.

One, dated March 1943, told of the reaction in Salonika to the deportation of the majority of the city's 56,000 Jews. The other, from June 1943, recorded the deportation to Germany of some Jews of non-Greek citizenship.

But Kirchschlaeger said he could not link Waldheim to the deportations because he had received no documents indicating where Waldheim was before Dec. 1, 1943.